Olympic Wrestler

Whitney Conder

Hear Whitney's story below

ABOUT WHITNEY

My first wrestling match was against a boy. For me it didn’t really feel any different. Some boys, they just feel that it’s a lose/lose situation because if they lose to a girl they feel like they’re going to get made fun of. They don’t want to beat up a girl. And I actually had a boy that said it was against his religion to wrestle a girl.

One of the big misconceptions for women’s wrestling that they don’t think they should be out there on the mat and they don’t think they should be part of the sport. Women should be part of the sport. It’s just a great opportunity for women, to build them, have them be comfortable with themselves and be comfortable with what they do. Wrestling is a great sport that doesn’t just build to know yourself, but it builds you into a totally different person.

This is a sport where it’s heart and mind. Your body may think that it can’t go so far but your mind and your heart is what pushes it the most. It’s two people going against each other one on one, and you’re leaving it all out there on the mat and going against each other and you’re pushing all that you’ve got. After wrestling, anything is easy.

All of us work hard and we want people to know that we can be tough, but we can also be very feminine. Just be comfortable with ourselves and show people who we are. Be comfortable in your skin and being able to just show people who you are, and wanting people to know that women can do anything.